Tarrant County commissioners approved more than $135,000 in funding for legal counsel amid lawsuits filed against the county last year.
Commissioners approved $60,000 during Tuesday's meeting to retain attorneys for two county employees named in a lawsuit from the family of Anthony Johnson Jr., who died in custody at Tarrant County Jail in 2024.
Those two employees are detention officers Royce Moody and Kimberly Nobles, who were initially named in the suit.
Despite pushback from several residents, the proposals were approved in a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles, Jr. voting against them.
"I can't get past my moral obligation to stand with the Johnson family in the loss of their son while he was in custody at the county jail," Miles told commissioners.
Commissioner Matt Krause, who voted to approve the funding, said the court has an obligation to provide defense counsel for these employees.
"There's not an option that says, 'we've already paid them too much, we can't keep doing it,'" Krause said. "We have to continue to provide representation for them in this matter."
The parents of Johnson Jr. sued Tarrant County and 15 detention officers following his death in 2024, but U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor excused Tarrant County from the lawsuit last February, ruling the Johnsons failed to prove the county’s policies and procedures led to Anthony's death.
The Johnson family filed an appeal last month with the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, saying the jail's history with previous inmates' deaths is enough to prove jail policy and training failed to keep people safe in custody.
Commissioners also approved more than $75,200 in additional funding for legal counsel as part of a lawsuit from Tarrant County residents last year over its mid-decade redistricting. The suit accused the county of racial gerrymandering but was ultimately dismissed in December.
Commissioners had previously approved $250,000 in legal funding for that suit but were billed the additional amount by the law firm.
Additional reporting by Miranda Suarez.
Penelope Rivera is KERA's Tarrant County Accountability Reporter. Got a tip? Email Penelope Rivera at privera@kera.org.
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